A federal judge dismissed the most recent felony convictions of five retired military officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from Leonard Francis, a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard,” in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Navy history.
The dismissals came at the request of the government — not the defense — citing prosecutorial errors.
Retired US Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch and Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Enrico DeGuzman had each admitted to accepting bribes from Francis. Following the dismissals, the retired officers pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of disclosing information.
The judge also dismissed the entire case against former US Navy captain Stephen Shedd. In court documents and testimony, Shedd confessed to leaking military secrets on 10 occasions for prostitutes, vacations, luxury watches, and other bribes worth $105,000.
CBS News reports that the felony dismissals marked the latest setback to the government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of military officials tied to Francis, who pleaded guilty to offering more than $500,000 in cash bribes, along with other gifts and wild sex parties in Southeast Asia, to Navy officials, defense contractors, and others. The scheme allowed him to bilk the maritime service out of at least $35 million by getting commanders to redirect ships to ports he controlled and overcharging for services, according to the prosecution.
Francis owned and operated Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd., which supplied food, water, and fuel to U.S. Navy vessels. He was arrested in 2013 in a sting operation in San Diego.
Prosecutors said in legal filings outlining their request for Tuesday’s dismissals that the action does not mean the defendants did not commit the charged crimes but because information was withheld from the defense and other mistakes were made, they wanted to ensure justice was served fairly.
In 2022, Judge Janis Sammartino ruled the former lead federal prosecutor committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding information from defense lawyers. In September, the felony convictions of four former Navy officers were also vacated. The four men pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and agreed to pay a $100 fine each.